Girls have done it again t­his year. Rebecca-Ann Jattan, Shemiah Grant, Nishtha Mohan and Victoria Majaraj have topped the Secondary Assessment Examination (SEA) results. Jattan attended Canaan Presbyterian; Shemiah, Atwell’s Educational Centre; Mohan, Freeport Presbyterian and Maharaj, Avocat Vedic. Last year, Gabrielle Mohan and Adilah Adams, who both attended Chaguanas Government, placed among the top three students in the SEA examination. The SEA results have brought high praises for Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh from his colleagues at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting for what they said was a marked improvement in the academic performance of primary schools across the country. Communications Minister Jamal Mohammed, at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing,said the mood was upbeat in Cabinet over the SEA results and said Dr Gopeesingh was saluted for his contribution. Gopeesingh, addressing the media, said: “More and more primary schools are doing better and better.

This is a good sign. “There is a positive trend in terms of the movement of our education system. “The performance of the students is something that is giving us a lot of comfort now.” Gopeesingh said SEA results have continued to improve over the last three years. He said 19,835 students wrote the SEA this year and 860 students scored above 90 per cent. “This is an improvement from 2011 when 786 scored above 90 per cent,” he added. Further, he said, 10,195 students scored above 60 per cent compared to 9,826 in 2011 and 12,723 scored above 50 per cent, compared to 12,216 in 2011. “Clearly, there has been significant improvement in the results over the last year,” he added. Gopeesingh also noted a lower percentage scored below 30 per cent. “This year, 1,680 students scored below 30 per cent compared to 1,800 in 2011,” he added, Gopeesingh said the average scores of students in mathematics and creative writing have increased.

The number of students scoring above average also has improved, he said. He added: “In 2012, 54 per cent scored above the mean in creative writing as compared to 48 per cent in 2011.” Less students were getting under 50 per cent, Gopeesingh added. Told by the media the improvement was seen mostly in the denominational schools and that the Government schools did not do so well, Gopeesingh said he saw improvement across the board. He noted Atwell’s Private School had six students in the first 200. Some 81 schools had places in the first 200, compared to 41 schools in the first 150 last year. Gopeesingh said those schools were spread across the country and included rural schools. According to the SEA results, Muslim schools copped a large piece of the SEA pie, with Hindu and Presbyterian schools following closely behind.